On a Wing and a Prayer

Within these covers lives a charming tale, told by the officer and gentleman Adrian Moss to his loving daughter, Robbie Moss Manning. On its face, it's the story of a sensitive mission entrusted by the U.S. Air Force in 1957 to the young pilot Lieutenant Moss, the harrowing hazards he faced on the journey, and the cool ingenuity he brought to bear on every crisis. But Ms. Manning also captures the tone of the era, in all its brash courage and inocence, in her deft prose and telling quotes.